Clerical rabat



Feb. 12, 1946. E, REN AL 2,394,717

CLERICAL RABAT Filed Oct. 23, 1944 INVENTOR. FNMA Kin/0,411

Patented Feb. 12, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLERICAL Emma. Kendall, New Yorln. N. Y.

Application October-23, 1944, Serial No. 559.881

(ores-119 1. Claim.

The present invention is. directed to a clerical vestment commonly known as a rabat, which is part of the robes of clergy.

In the past, various forms of rabats have been made and used, one of these which wasin considerable use; consisted of a neck band having therein a stiffening, member in the form of a relatively thick piece of cardboard. Depending therefrom was a; fabric portion intended to cover the chest of the wearer. Also, tapes were provided for tying the chest portion around the body to hold said portion in place; Such a rabat had a number of disadvantages; among. which was the fact that. the stiffening member in the neckband caused irritation to the neck of the wearer and after a relatively short time it wore or cut-through the neckband, thereby rendering the same useless. The irritation caused by-the neckband" was often so great as to cause rupture of the skin. It was also difficult to keep the rabat in place as the tabs did not accomplish the desired purpose but on the contrary added to the discomfort of the wearer.

Rabats of the prior art also, had other serious defects. Save in rare instances, the. rabat i a ready made article designed without regard to fit or, otherwise stated, it is a one-size. article and hence the portly or stout, the medium, and the slender individual. must, as the case may be,,find a solution to the problem and this is sought to be accomplished generally by imposing upon the vest, coat, either or both, or some other article of dress, in order to help conceal the defects. and demerits of the. rabat. Aside from the factor. of too much stockor lack of stock, the conventional rabat is strictly a. bosom covering stopping at about the median line of the. shoulders and sometimes formed with a Celluloid flange for use as a collar guide, so that it depends. in part on. the collar, in part on the coat, and in part on the vest to hold it in. place. Hence, it is a. source of considerable discomfort. and annoyance. to the wearer. Moreover, the conventional rabat is shortlived because the constant pushing, up. and other adjustments necessary to help overcomeits. tendency to make for carelessness results in rapid wear and it is a fact that the average life of a rabat is one week.

The present invention is intended and adapted to overcome the difficulties and disadvantages inherent in rabats heretofore used, it being among the objects thereof to provide a rabat which will provide a maximum of ease and comfort and one that will so fit the wearer as to impose no strain on the rabat and conform with the movements of the wearer.

It is" also among the object of the present invention to provide a rabat which is of. such a form of cut as to lie upon the shoulders of the wearer and act as a support for the neckband while at the same time preventing irritation or rubbing by the neckband. It is still further among the objects of. the present invention to provide a rabat which is of such form andextent that it will follow the contour of the body and will lay in the proper position. without the necessity of tape or the like toholid the same inpl'ace.

In practicing the present invention there is provided a rabat made of a single piece of fabric roughly elongated in form. In the central part thereof is a substantially circular opening; for the neck and on either side of said opening are shoulder portions. The width of said shoulders are. such that they'extend to they end. of the wearers shoulder blades and are firmly supported thereon. The back of the rabat extends downwardly over the shoulder blades and the lower edge thereof is. on a curve formed on a radius having the center area. of the neck. opening as. its focus; The back is split centrally and is adapted to be closed by a zipper stitched therein. 1

The front ofthe rabat is made. of' straight lines tapering downwardly and. inwardly from the lateral' portions of the shoulders, down. to approximately the waist line. The lower. edge is approximately horizontal. and the width thereof is approximately one-half ofjthe width of the rabat at the shoulder portions.

More specifically, the rabat is so out from a single piece of material th'at wvhen made up the shoulder and chest. portions are curved to conform with the body and thus cause the rabat to lay flat and be comfortable to the wearer. To accomplish this the material is so cut that the slope of the shoulders is about. 10 to 15. The. curved lower edge. of the'back extends from shoulder to shoulder over an arc of about The back. extends downwardly to. a point which is. about 40% offthe length of. the front of. the rabat.

In the. accompanying drawing constituting a part hereof and in which like reference characters indicate like parts,

Fig. 1' is a front elevational view of a rabat made in accordance with the present invention and having the position that it would have when worn;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

.Fig. 3 is a top plan view thereof, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the back of the rabat showing particularly the junction of neckband and center line of the back of the rabat.

Fig. 5 is a view showing the blank for the rabat as it appears when in fiat condition.

. I The rabat consists essentially of a single piece Shoulder portions I extend to points 8 and the width of the shoulder portions so as to cover the Said shoulder" portions are at an angle of 10 to to the hori-I entire shoulders of the wearer.

zontal. The overall width between points8 is approximately twice thelength oflower edge 6.

The back has two panels 9, the lower edges of which are on a curve having the center area.

of the neck opening 2 as a center. The extent of each panel 9 is approximately 75 from the shoulders 1 as particularly shown in Fig. 5. Meeting edges Ii] of panels 9 are provided withthe .usual zipper elements'with means for opening and closing the same. The lower edge of panels 9 are stitched orotherwise held together as shown On opening 2 is secured an upstanding neck band I3. It consists of a single pieceof fabric folded. at its upper edge to provide two plies I4 and I5. The neckband is stitched at 16 to open-' ing 2. An interlining is provided within neckband [3, said interlining' being offla piec'e'ofi looselywoven fabric exemplified by 'crinoline or the like. The thickness thereof is less than the thickness of the outer plies.

wrinkling but does not interfere with the movements of the wearer. A button I8 is stitched to the front of neckband I3 in order to hold a collar :19 at the front of the rabat. The height of neckband I3 is in extended position and'shoulders 1 are supported as shown in Fig. 1, the back 4 will hang approximately vertical as shown in Fig. 2. The front 3 of the rabat will extend con- 7 vexly as shown at 2| over the chest portion and i will extend vertically at the lower portion thereof.

The extreme length of back 4 is small compared to the length of front 3, being preferably about 40%.thereof. I When in use, the shoulder portions of the rabat lie snugly on'the shoulders of the wearer. They extend to the end of the shoulder blades and thus there is a firm and smooth fit of the rabat.

as if the same were tailored to the individual. There is no tendency for any puckering, creasing It imparts a suf -ficient stiffness to the neckband to prevent appended hereto.

or the like. The neckband isnot stiff and there- 3 fore does not cause any discomfort or vexation to the wearer. vIt is partly held in uprightposition by the crinoline stiffening material and partly by the fit of the shoulder portion on the wearer, which provides a substantially uniform tension all around the neckband to keep it upright. The chest portion extends convexly to fit the chest of the wearer and the lower portion of the front hangs substantially vertically to almost the waistline. By reason of the tapering of the front, there is an accommodation of the rabat to various individuals. The desiredeifect is obtained and the rabat will fit a large number of persons The shape of the back of the rabat is such that it approximately conforms with the area of the shoulder blades. Therefore it lays smoothly thereon without any tendency to wrinkle or ride up.- I

Numerous other advantages are inherent in the present invention which in actual practice has been found convenient not only in use but also in putting it on and off. -'To accomplish this, the rabat is slipped over the. head of thewearer with the back to the front, and the zipper is closed. Then the rabat is rotatedlaround the neck of the wearer until it is in the proper position. f

Although I have described the invention setting forth a single embodiment thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in the details of construction may be made within the spirit of the invention. For instance, any type of material may beused for the body of the rabat and it may be made of more than one piece of material; although it is preferred to have the same unitary. The dimensions of the rabat may be changed tosoine extent Within the specifications which have been found necessary or desirable in practice. In view of the above, the invention is. to be broadly construed andnot to be limited except by the character of the claim Iclaim: a A rabat comprising a unitary piece of fabric of elongated form constituting the front and back of said rabat, a substantiallycircular neck opening centrally thereof, an upstanding neckband in said opening, a cut-out at the junctionof said back and neckband at the centerrear, whereby pressure on the adjacent vertebrae isprevented, shoulder portions at the sides of said-opening, the width of said shoulders being suchas to extend to the end of the wearers'shoulder blades, the back being curved on a radius from thecenter rear of said opening to the end of said shoulders, said back being split and a zipper therein, the front tapering on straight lines and the bottom thereof being approximately one-half the width ofsaid shoulders, the cut of said fabric being such that when the opening and shoulders are supported the back is substantially vertical and the front chest is convex; the length oflsaid back being about 40% of the length of said front, the slope of said shoulders being lil 15, and'the curve of said back being overaboutl 50 I p g EMMA'RENDALL 

